FGW announce link with Singapore Airlines

[whole diary]

[Rhydgaled]

I'm not sure how you would have an alternative way of processing the ticket though. Unless the bus company was able to sell train tickets too, but I think that may confuse things further for a bus driver who doesn't have long to deal with a transaction at the side of the road.

Pay the bus driver a fiver for a "Plus Bus Starter" ticket, to be taken as credit towards your plus bus journey ticket purchased from the station counter when you switch from rubber to steel?   Of course that assumes a counter will be open at the station and you won't find that you're faced with just a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine).

Or just a TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) (train manager), if boarding somewhere without ticket issuing facilities. Maybe that'd be the answer, let passengers board and buy from the guard if they have a 'bus starter' ticket?

[JayMac]

You always hear excuses from the rail industry as to why further integrated ticketing between bus and rail is not possible. It is not impossible currently, and with smart card technology it gets even easier.

I'd prefer transport providers in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) to concentrate their efforts in this area, make the existing offers easier to purchase and expand them further. I cannot, for instance get one through bus and rail ticket from Lawrence Weston in Bristol to Curry Rivel in Somerset, despite the opportunity to travel throughout with one parent company, First.

Even where it was possible to travel to relatives in another part of Somerset with a Rail/Bus ticket, I still needed to get to Bristol Temple Meads, as the particular fare was not available from my local station. At Bristol Temple Meads I could only get this ticket from the ticket office, and even then I would regularly encounter problems, with clerks telling me, variously:

• "There's no station in Dulverton" (I know)
• "Dulverton Bus is not a valid destination"
• "I don't think I can sell that"
• "It won't be accepted on the bus"

With, on one occasion, a flat refusal to even sell the ticket despite the clerk agreeing it was in the system.

When I regularly used this ticket I never faced a problem with bus drivers.

Let's have integrated transport (or at least through ticketing) sorted in this country before we start gimmicky tie-ins with long haul airlines.

[bobm]

For the record - here is the liveried power car in its proper environment...

[grahame]

Seven years ago!

For the record - here is the liveried power car in its proper environment...

and a picture from the publicity video at the time. Came up "on this day"



In the new era, how did this link get on?   Is the connection still there?  Is it a way for the future?

I notice looking back that the original thread headed of to talk about integrated tickets with buses rather than planes, which strikes me as a much more often-sought requirement ... and I have started to think forward to long distance expresses using the Old Oak to Euston link with perhaps a rapid transit just along the Euston Road for interchange with "London Main Station".   Melksham to Munich by train?  (and , yes, I have done, but the ticket wasn't available from the machine!)

[bobm]

Well the website is no more and the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) power car with the livery is now in Scotland.

[TaplowGreen]

Rail replacement plane?

[eightonedee]

....or plane replacement train!

[JayMac]

....or plane replacement train!

I'd like to see a HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) set make it to Singapore!

Actually, thought experiment. Could it be done wholly by rail? Ignoring geopolitics. 4ft 8 1⁄2in all the way. Say, Swansea to Singapore...

[grahame]

....or plane replacement train!

I'd like to see a HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) set make it to Singapore!

Actually, thought experiment. Could it be done wholly by rail? Ignoring geopolitics. 4ft 8 1⁄2in all the way. Say, Swansea to Singapore...

I suspect you would need to switch go a bit further north into 5ft 3in land.

"Race Across The World" season 1 was Greenwich to Singapore.   There were significant road and water sections on it, but at least some of them were forced by intermediate checkpoints, or in some places passenger rail being so much slower than long distance coach.

[TonyK]

....or plane replacement train!

I'd like to see a HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) set make it to Singapore!

Actually, thought experiment. Could it be done wholly by rail? Ignoring geopolitics. 4ft 8 1⁄2in all the way. Say, Swansea to Singapore...

There is now a continuous railway, but a few changes of gauge along the way. Once Russia decides it's had enough of 1520 mm, that could change. Or there could be more of this:

[stuving]

There is now a continuous railway, but a few changes of gauge along the way. Once Russia decides it's had enough of 1520 mm, that could change. Or there could be more of this:

More what - railway museums? If you hunt the origin of that picture, on Wikipedia, it is captioned:

Triple gauge, from left: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in), and 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in), on display at the China Railway Museum in Beijing

... which does at least tally with putting a ruler up against the screen!

[TonyK]

There is now a continuous railway, but a few changes of gauge along the way. Once Russia decides it's had enough of 1520 mm, that could change. Or there could be more of this:

More what - railway museums? If you hunt the origin of that picture, on Wikipedia, it is captioned:

Triple gauge, from left: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in), and 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in), on display at the China Railway Museum in Beijing

... which does at least tally with putting a ruler up against the screen!

Yes, another couple of thousand miles to add to the 100 metres or so in existence.

[grahame]

Booking may be made by any IATA travel agent. 

Visit the Rail Fly website for more information.

Looks like that though booking opportunity is no more ...

grahamellis@JelliaJamb jan23 % ping www.rail-fly.com
ping: cannot resolve www.rail-fly.com: Unknown host

... unless anyone knows a new name / location for the facility?

Edit to correct quoting

[grahame]

Seven years ago!

For the record - here is the liveried power car in its proper environment...

and a picture from the publicity video at the time. Came up "on this day"



[snip]

And now from The Mirror

Some airlines are offering combined air-rail tickets which that allow passengers to explore Europe on one booking.

An increasing number of airlines are now letting travellers add a train ticket to their booking, to save them the hassle of trying to work out travel plans. Air-rail tickets allow travellers to arrive at an airport and head straight to a train for their connection. In addition, when booked all together, airlines protect the passenger in case a flight delay means they miss their train.

[UstiImmigrunt]

If you can afford it, Singapore Airlines business class is the best long haul experience that I've sampled. Not yet done Turkish, Qatar or Emirates which are supposed to be better.